AMC is going to try to strike comic book gold again by finally bringing the Garth Ennis/ Steve Dillon classic “Preacher” to television. And the unlikely duo that will be manning the creative wheels behind the show’s pilot? Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

The news comes via Devon Faraci at Badass Digest and it is welcome news for a series that has found itself in development Hell since the late 90s.

“Preacher” has been out in the world of almost getting adapted for a while; it all started back in 1998 when Garth Ennis wrote a draft of a script and Kevin Smith tried to get Harvey Weinstein to make it. Along the way we’ve seen people like Rachel Talaly, DJ Caruso and Sam Mendes attached to direct.

It sounds like an April Fools joke of sorts, but here we are smack dab in November with not a fool in sight (except for me, I guess). Judging from these tweets Rogen posted, we might be closer than ever to an honest to God “Preacher” adaptation.

There are only a handful of creative types in the business I would think would even have a prayer of taking “Preacher” from the page to the screen, and I would not have necessarily put Rogen and Goldberg on that list. They’re comic book fans, but they struggled to adapt “The Green Hornet” to modern times…

That said, my expectations would be much lower if I hadn’t seen and liked “This Is The End,” which is itself a blend of tones and styles that should not work together, shifting from autobiographical self-satire to genuine metaphysical dread.

“Preacher” was a genre blending series that helped put DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint on the map in the 90s alongside “Hellblazer” and “Sandman.” Trying to explain the storyline seems like a chore that I couldn’t do justice. The saga of Jesse Custer, Tulip and Cassidy is one I’ve enjoyed for quite a while now and always viewed as the perfect type of vehicle for TV, especially in the current climate. It’s blasphemous, grungy and violent to the point of pure bliss.

If Rogen and Goldberg can pull it off, I would hope to see it move past the pilot stage and join the stable of highly touted series on AMC. It could easily play hand and hand with “The Walking Dead” and could help shore up their lineup for years to come. All we need now is an adaptation of Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan” and I will die a lonely but happy man. I have to ask though, what does this mean for “Low Winter Sun?”

i feel like i’ve been waiting for this adaptation ever since i read the first four issues back when they came out. it’s a comic that just seems perfect as a 5 season TV show. i would assume some of the shit will need to be changed for budget reasons. i remember when Sam Mendes was attached and kept thinking how awful it would be. this news of Rogen and Goldberg makes a hell of a lot more sense. i think they will keep the humor and sort of juvenile non-sense that made it so fucking great intact.

I’m agreeing with The Bearded One; there’s just no way AMC is going to let loose the kind of wonderful blasphemy Preacher provides. People have always talked about the idea of a series going to HBO, wonder why they passed….

Who owns the rights to Preacher? If it’s Vertigo, shouldn’t WB own it? And if so, why would they let it go to AMC and not put it on HBO which they also own? I’m with The Bearded One up there, HBO would be a better home for this. And by “The Bearded One up there” I mean God. He told me he thinks TWD and Low Winter Sun blow and if they cock up Preacher there’s gonna be some serious smiting going on.

I honestly don’t think that the problem with it being on AMC is that they’d necessarily water it down. I mean, they aren’t going to do nudity or any “fucks,” but I don’t think that’d necessarily dilute it. Hell, I think it’d actually kind of be funny if it was bleeped. What worries me about it being on AMC is that AMC kind of majorly sucks right now. I HATE the Walking Dead show because I know how good it could be, and it just flat-out refuses to be, season after season, and I only sorta like TWD comics. I mean, I have them all, but they’re not my favorite. But if they take a shit all over Preacher my nerd rage will be palpable.

AMC isnt going to put inbred Jesus or the Meatman on TV with out trying to tone it down in some sense.
And thats just a small handful of the colorful characters that is Preacher.
Cradle the balls… Say the name…

If it makes it to the point where I can watch a pilot or even a first season with my own eyes then I’ll start to worry about what network or who was doing the producing. If Rogan can get it done good for him. And bring on Transmetropolitan!

I have serious doubts it will ever actually get made but if it generates enough buzz in the press it’s going to be fun to watch the evangelicals froth at the mouth when they find out what it’s about, especially when they get to the scenes where God actually shows up.

Agree. They think they can just lightly trim the balls to get this on TV. But if you trim, you CUT THE ENTIRE BALLS OFF. A neutered “Preacher” would not work on TV. Frankly, a faithful version might not fly either.

I’m just not sure how a network that depends on advertisers will be able to support this show. It just seems like it’ll be boycotted starting in, like, 5 minutes. The fact that Rogen is producing, though, does give me some hope that it will arrive in a 60-75% pure form due to his power in the industry. But, then, it’s AMC who have driven how many showrunners from Walking Dead along with annoying Weiner and Gilligan as they turned out groundbreaking work. One thing I can say…I’m tuning in!!!